As expected, an appeals court in California has revived lawsuits
being pursued against companies linked to Michael Jackson by the two men
who appeared in the HBO documentary ‘Leaving Neverland’.

James Safechuck and Wade Robson both accuse the late pop star
of abusing them as children. Following Jackson’s death in 2009, they
both sued his estate and companies linked to the star in relation to
those abuse allegations. But the cases were dismissed, in no small part
because of the statute of limitations that exists for such lawsuits in
California.

Under previous laws, victims of child abuse needed to file
their lawsuits by the age of 26. Both claimants had passed that age by
the time they went legal. However, a change was made to Californian law
on this point last year, so that victims can now make a legal claim
against alleged child abusers up to the age of 40.

The politician who led on that amendment to the state’s statute
of limitation laws, Lorena Gonzalez, noted at the time that: “The idea
that someone who is assaulted as a child can actually run out of time to
report that abuse is outrageous”.

Both Safechuck and Robson quickly indicated that they hoped to
utilise that change in the law to revive their respective cases against
the Jackson companies (though not the estate).

An appeals court in California indicated in November
that it would allow that to happen. Then last week – with the new
statute of limitations actually coming into force on 1 Jan – judges
formally reversed the lower court rulings that dismissed Safechuck and
Robson’s lawsuits.

Welcoming that development, a legal rep for the two men – Vince
Finaldi – said in a statement: “We are pleased that the court has
recognised the strong protections California has put into place for
sexual abuse victims under the state’s new law extending the statute of
limitations. We look forward to sharing the facts of the terrible abuse
of James Safechuck and Wade Robson with a jury”.

The Jackson estate, of course, has been disparaging of
Safechuck and Robson’s allegations throughout, also heavily criticising
HBO’s decision to broadcast the ‘Leaving Neverland’ programme. While
estate reps conceded last year that the change to Californian law would
likely result in Safechuck and Robson’s legal cases being revived, they
say they are confident both lawsuits will be dismissed again second time
round.

Noting that the appeals court only passed judgment on the
statute of limitations point, not the actual substance of Safechuck and
Robson’s cases, the estate’s lawyer Howard Weitzman told reporters last
week: “The court of appeal’s ruling merely revived lawsuits against
Michael Jackson’s companies, which absurdly claim that Michael’s
employees are somehow responsible for sexual abuse that never happened”.